Buying decision

Where and When to Buy a Mattress

Last verified · How we are paid

The short answer

Buy on a holiday weekend, direct from whoever makes the mattress. Labor Day sales are running now and most of them close the week of September 7. The next window this deep is Black Friday, eleven weeks out.

Where to buy

Buy from the maker, not a department store. The discount, the free shipping and the trial all come from the brand. Cheapest queen we found: IKEA at $199. Longest trial and free old-mattress removal: Saatva. 6 8 19

When to buy

Now. Mattress Express ends its extra 10% on September 9 and Saatva closes its early-access tier on September 3. Labor Day is September 7. Miss this and you wait for Black Friday, November 27. 4 6 10 15

Codes

Only the small brands use codes. EGOHOME puts LABOR10 on its front page for an extra 10% off. At Mattress Express the extra 10% is automatic, no code needed. Saatva, Casper and Mattress Firm advertise their sale with no code at all. 1 4 5 6 7

Cards

Say no to store financing unless you can clear it early. Deferred-interest plans charge you all the interest back to the purchase date if any balance is left when the promotion ends. 16

Where to buy it

Retailer Cashback Code Good for Watch out
Mattress Express 4 18 10% LABOR10 Extra 10% off select mattresses, from our own partner feed and not printed on the store page, where the same discount is applied automatically. The site says the Labor Day sale ends September 9. 4 WELCOME10 Apply it at checkout to save $10 on your first order. 4 tenmomo10 Extra 10% off. This one is ours, issued to us by the brand. The cheapest hybrid on this page. Marked-down hybrids sit between $239 and $499, shipping is free, and the extra 10% comes off on top of that. Spend $1,000 and a cooling comforter is added at checkout. There is no sleep trial. You get 21 days from the date of purchase to ask for a return, and you have to be approved before you ship anything back. That is the shortest window of any seller here.
EGOHOME 1 2 10% LABOR10 Extra 10% off selected items during the Labor Day sale. 1 tenmomo10 10% off mattresses. This one is ours, issued to us by the brand. Sitewide is up to 30% off right now. Foam and hybrid beds start between $319 and $529 after the markdown, the thin Dreamer foam line starts at $104.99, and there is a 100-night trial with a 10-year warranty. The trial has a 21-day break-in you must sit through before you can start a return, and a processing fee comes out of the refund. Free shipping stops at the 48 contiguous states.
IKEA 8 19 Cheapest queen we could verify anywhere: the ASVANG foam mattress at $199. Pocket-spring queens run $279 to $649. You can lie on all of them in the store before you decide, which no online brand lets you do. No sleep trial and no refund on a used mattress. IKEA lets you exchange a mattress for a different one once, within 90 days. Opened non-mattress goods get 180 days, unopened get 365.
Casper 7 Deepest percentage on a name brand this weekend: up to 35% off mattresses, 35% on bundles, 20% on two or more pillows. Returns are free once you are past the first 30 nights. The 100-night trial only starts when the mattress is delivered, and Casper asks you to sleep on it for 30 nights before it will take a return. Clearance models carry a 5-year warranty instead of 10.
Saatva 6 Best terms of anyone here. A 365-night trial, a lifetime warranty, free delivery and setup, and they haul the old mattress away at no charge. Labor Day early access is up to $625 off. Early access ends September 3, sooner than every other sale on this page. Saatva does not state its return fee on the home page, so ask before you order. Prices start well above the budget brands.
Keetsa 3 Up to 20% off sitewide for Labor Day, a 90-night sleep trial, a 12-year warranty and free shipping across the contiguous US. Longer warranty than either budget brand above it. We cannot pay cashback on Keetsa. Our tracking with the network that handles this brand stopped working on August 19, 2026, so a purchase would not be credited to you. Buy it for the price, not for us.
Mattress Firm 5 The one place on this list with showrooms and a long trial at the same time: 120 nights to try it, and a Labor Day sale advertised at up to $700 off. The $700 headline is a ceiling on the priciest sets, not what a mid-range bed comes off by. No end date is posted for the sale, and the return terms are on a separate page we did not open.

◆ Cashback rates and codes without a footnote come from Tenmomo's own affiliate-network feed, re-read on the date shown under Last verified.

When to buy it

Labor Day, Monday September 7, 2026 (live now)
Sales opened in mid-to-late August and discounts run 10% to 60%. Most brands keep them going a few days past the holiday, but not all: Mattress Express stops September 9 and Saatva's early-access tier stops September 3. 4 6 10 15
October
A quieter window that Consumer Reports still lists among the best months to buy, alongside February, May and November. Less selection than Black Friday, less competition for stock. 17
Black Friday to Cyber Monday, November 27-30, 2026
The deepest cuts of the year, and they hold all the way through Cyber Monday. Some brands start slashing in the week before Thanksgiving, which falls on November 26. 14 15
Presidents Day, third Monday in February
Sales open two to three weeks ahead of the weekend, at 25% or more off, or $200-plus off. Prices snap back to normal once it is over, so do not dawdle past the Monday. 11
Memorial Day, last Monday in May
Starts one or two weeks early, reaches up to 60% off, and often runs to the end of the month. New inventory arrives around now, so the previous year models get cleared out. 12 13
Fourth of July
Some sales open in late June and many run several days past the holiday. Depth is about the same as Labor Day, Black Friday and Presidents Day, so there is little point waiting one out for another. 9
Model-changeover clearance, no fixed date
Closeout sales run several times a year to move discontinued models before the replacements land. This is where the floor price lives. The catch is that you buy whatever is left, not what you picked. 13

The long answer

The list price is not a real price

Almost every mattress is advertised as discounted every day of the year, which means the percentage off tells you nothing. Consumer Reports measured the part that does move: these holiday weekend "discounts tend to improve by 5 to 10 percent compared to non-holiday prices". On a $1,200 bed that is roughly $60 to $120. Judge the deal by the dollar figure you would actually hand over, and compare it against the same model at another seller, not against the crossed-out number next to it. 17 20

How much a holiday actually saves you, by holiday

Labor Day runs 10% to 60% off. Presidents Day tends to land at 25% or more, or $200-plus off. Memorial Day reaches up to 60%. The Fourth of July is described by the same source as comparable to Labor Day, Black Friday and Presidents Day. Read those numbers together and the conclusion is dull but useful: the gap between one holiday and the next is small, and the gap between any holiday and a random Tuesday is the one worth waiting for. If you need a bed this month, buy this month. 9 10 11 12

The trial length is the part that costs you money

A mattress you cannot return is a mattress you own for a decade. The spread here is enormous. Saatva gives 365 nights and a lifetime warranty. Mattress Firm gives 120. Casper gives 100, but will not process a return until night 31. EGOHOME gives 100 with a 21-day wait before the clock starts and a processing fee out of your refund. Keetsa gives 90. IKEA gives a single exchange within 90 days and no refund. Mattress Express gives no trial at all, just 21 days from purchase to request a return. Price the risk in before you sort by price. 1 3 4 5 6 7 8

Small brands discount with codes, big brands discount the price

This split is consistent enough to plan around. EGOHOME puts a code on its front page and expects you to type it. Mattress Express advertises the same size of discount, an extra 10% off select mattresses, but applies it without a code. Saatva, Casper and Mattress Firm publish a sale with nothing to enter either, because the discount is already in the number you see. If you are shopping a big brand and cannot find a code, that is not because you looked in the wrong place. It is because there is not one. 1 4 5 6 7

The financing offer is where the savings go to die

Mattress sellers push promotional financing hard because a monthly number makes a $1,500 bed feel like a $60 one. The trap is deferred interest. The CFPB puts it plainly: if the balance is not paid off in full by the deadline, "you would owe all of the interest back to the original date of the charge." Being more than 60 days late can also cost you the promotion outright, and the minimum payment on its own usually will not clear the balance in time. If you cannot pay it off inside the promotional window, that 10% code you hunted for is gone several times over. 16

Questions people ask

When is the best time to buy a mattress?

Black Friday through Cyber Monday is the deepest of the year. The three-day holidays - Presidents Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day - land close behind and come around more often. Right now you are inside the Labor Day window. 9 10 11 12 14

Where is the cheapest place to buy a mattress?

For a queen you can sleep on tonight, IKEA at $199. Online, Mattress Express lists marked-down hybrids from $239 and EGOHOME starts at $319 for a 12-inch foam bed, both before the extra 10% code and our 10% back. 1 2 4 19

Do mattress coupon codes actually work?

At some small brands, yes. LABOR10 is on the front page at EGOHOME today. Mattress Express takes its extra 10% off automatically, so there is nothing to type. At Saatva, Casper and Mattress Firm there is no code to find, and no site claiming otherwise has one either. 1 4 5 6 7

How long do I wait if I miss Labor Day?

About eleven weeks, to Black Friday on November 27. October is not a dead month though - Consumer Reports lists it among the best times to buy, along with February, May and November. 14 15 17

Is a 365-night trial worth paying more for?

It is if you have never bought this type of mattress before. Comfort complaints usually show up in weeks two to eight, and every trial here covers that. The long trials matter when the problem takes months to appear. 6 7

Will the price drop more if I wait a few days?

Not this week. Two of the sales on this page have posted end dates inside the next eight days, and prices go back up after a holiday rather than down. There is no post-Labor-Day dip to wait for. 4 6 11

Sources

  1. EGOHOME - home page (Labor Day sale, LABOR10, 100-night trial, 10-year warranty, free shipping) — accessed 2026-09-01
  2. EGOHOME - mattress collection prices — accessed 2026-09-01
  3. Keetsa - home page (Labor Day up to 20% off, 90-night trial, 12-year warranty, free shipping) — accessed 2026-09-01
  4. Mattress Express - home page (Labor Day extra 10% off ending September 9 applied without a code, WELCOME10, prices, free shipping) — accessed 2026-09-01
  5. Mattress Firm - home page (Labor Day up to $700 off, 120 nights to try it) — accessed 2026-09-01
  6. Saatva - home page (Labor Day early access ends 9/3, up to $625 off, 365-night trial, lifetime warranty, free delivery, setup and removal) — accessed 2026-09-01
  7. Casper - home page (Labor Day up to 35% off, 100-night trial, 30-night adjustment period, 10-year warranty) — accessed 2026-09-01
  8. IKEA US - returns and claims policy (mattress exchange once within 90 days; 180 days opened, 365 days unopened) — accessed 2026-09-01
  9. National Council on Aging - Fourth of July mattress sales, July 6 2026 — accessed 2026-09-01
  10. National Council on Aging - Labor Day mattress sales, August 28 2026 — accessed 2026-09-01
  11. National Council on Aging - Presidents Day mattress sales, February 14 2026 — accessed 2026-09-01
  12. National Council on Aging - Memorial Day mattress sales, May 26 2026 — accessed 2026-09-01
  13. Brooklyn Bedding - when is the best time to buy a mattress (clearance and new-model changeover) — accessed 2026-09-01
  14. National Council on Aging - Black Friday mattress sales, December 1 2025 — accessed 2026-09-01
  15. Federal Reserve Board - holiday schedule (Labor Day 2026 is September 7, Thanksgiving is November 26) — accessed 2026-09-01
  16. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - how deferred interest promotions work — accessed 2026-09-01
  17. Consumer Reports - best holiday deals on mattresses, updated December 8 2025 (best months to buy: February, May, October, November) — accessed 2026-09-01
  18. Mattress Express - return and refund policy (21 days from purchase, approval required, prepaid label) — accessed 2026-09-01
  19. IKEA US - mattress category prices (ASVANG foam queen $199, ANNELAND hybrid queen $649) — accessed 2026-09-01
  20. Consumer Reports - best early Labor Day mattress sales, updated August 20 2026 (holiday discounts improve by 5 to 10 percent versus non-holiday prices) — accessed 2026-09-01

How we are paid

We take a commission on Mattress Express, EGOHOME and Keetsa, and we hand part of it back to you as cashback. We take nothing on IKEA, Casper, Saatva or Mattress Firm. They are on this page because for some readers they are the better buy, and leaving them off would have made the page useless. The table is ordered by what you pay, not by what we earn. Concretely: the top three are the cheapest beds you can get out the door, and below that we rank by how deep the discount runs right now on a brand you have heard of. That rule is why the seller carrying our second-best rate in this category sits below three that pay us nothing, and why a $199 IKEA queen outranks four brands we have no deal with either way. If you think a row is misplaced, the prices are all cited - check us. Keetsa is a special case: we still take a commission there, but our tracking with that brand's network broke on August 19, 2026, so we cannot credit you and we have switched its cashback off rather than promise something we cannot deliver.

What we don't cover

  • What other cashback sites pay. We do not track their rates, so we cannot tell you whether someone beats our 10%.
  • Costco and Amazon. Both blocked us from reading their mattress return policies, so we left them out instead of describing terms we had not read.
  • Credit card reward rates. We have no card database yet, so the card line covers only how store financing works, not which card earns most.
  • What a salesperson will knock off in a showroom. We cannot verify a negotiated price, so we do not quote one.
  • Whether these sale windows repeat on the same dates next year. Our sources describe the windows that happened, which is evidence, not a guarantee.
  • Comfort and durability. We do not test mattresses. Every fit note here comes from what the seller publishes about its own terms.
  • Mattress Firm return terms and Saatva return fees. Both live on pages we did not open, and both say so in the table.

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